According to the filing, the system would "enable a user to make and/or receive payments without disclosing personal or private information to another party. In some aspects, a provider of a payment may request an anonymous payment for a specified value from a host. In response, the host may transmit to the provider a code that is available for redemption. The provider may then relay the code to a recipient, who may redeem the code from the host. In other aspects, a recipient may request a temporary identifier (special code) from a host. The recipient may relay the temporary identifier to a provider, who may in turn transmit a payment, via the host, using the temporary identifier. The recipient may then claim the payment from the host."

The e-commerce giant has begun focusing more on the payments space recently. In February, Amazon announced it would create its own virtual currency for apps on the Kindle Fire.

Meanwhile, the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) announced that it has chosen digital security vendor Gemalto to build the platform for the group's previously announced mobile wallet. The MCX is a consortium of U.S. retailers -- including Wal-Mart Best Buy and Target -- who have come together to form a new mobile commerce platform.

The MCX will also use Gemalto's software for the app and development kits to enable retailers to embed the wallet functionality within their own apps.

Gemalto is also providing the security framework for the mobile wallet offering from Isis, the mobile payments venture formed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless.

This movement on mobile payments should come as no surprise. A recent Javelin Report predicted that the total amount of mobile payments at the point of sale would increase from $398 million in 2012 to $5.4 billion in 2018. While the number of mobile payments initiatives announced seems to grow by the week, the next few years should see a shakeout in this market, as clear winners and losers emerge.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio

The mobile industry has certainly the potential and the security possibilities to make payments with mobile devices a very very reliable option. As technology already provides fingerprint recognition against theft, it can of course also be used as a security instead of or in combination with a number code code.

Like an iceberg, there is much more to the mobile paymentsthan what can be seen on the surface today. It was also found that other globalmarkets (such as Africa and the Asia Pacific regions) are seeing a much largerpercentage of mobile transactions. Recent research indicates that both current mobile payments users and non-users are offered incentives to increase theiruse of mobile payments. This can be in the form of transaction incentives,mobile coupons, offers, etc

Everybody talks about whether or not Apple will get in the mobile wallet race. I think Amazon has just as much potential to be as big a mover in this space as Apple. They're such a big name in retail that they could force other retailers to gravitate towards offering mobile payments just to keep up.